KurtAndJodie.com

Happy Birthday Sydney Michelle!  She turns 8 today.  (my grandma would say she isn’t really 8 until 5:52pm, but I will let it slide)

We celebrated with a Star Wars party yesterday and a few friends. I tried buying her out of a party, because I just didn’t have it in me to do a party, but the kid won out. She got her party, a party that we threw together in 6 days.

As I have stated before, my kids LOVE Star Wars, so that is, of course, the type of party she wanted. I turned to Pinterest for a few ideas, but there isn’t much out there for a girl and Star Wars.

We had a wonderful guy from church who volunteered to come and be a Jedi Master and train them in the way of the force.

Kurt had worked so hard the night before on making light sabers out of PVC and foam that covers pipe.  They worked out to cost around $1 each.

I made some fun food items. The cake is Obi-One and Anakin fighting in the lava when Anakin turns to Darth Vader..

Hans Solo in some jello (you know where Jabba has him held)

Some healthier snacks

And some Wookie Cookies ( I found these at Williams-Sonoma…)

Yoda-Soda

And what MADE the party was the decorations, at least this Yoda. A friend of Kurt’s mentioned he had one, so we borrowed it.  The kids all had their picture taken with him.  Roxanne had found Kurt’s old Star Wars figures and we used those as well.

Jedi Training Academy- They had to race, practice knocking bubbles out of the force, and they had to destroy VADER!!!

They decorated their own wookie cookie, played musical chairs, and had an asteroid hunt.

Posed with Yoda…

Had cake

Opened gifts

These are 2 of my favorite Padawans.  Looking at these pictures I kept thinking “Man! They look a lot alike!”

And had a great time!

On Earth Day a couple of weeks ago, we had a picnic after church. It was a BEAUTIFUL day outside. And I got to spend time with some of my favorite people..

Lea made the most amazing crawfish Bisque I believe ever. Yum!

Sydney made a new friend and threw the BIGGEST fit (literally, I had to pull her by the arm to get her to leave this friend behind) when it was time to go..

Good day, good food, good fellowship

60 days ago, I made a commitment.  I made a commitment to myself that I was going to complete the Beachbody program Insanity.  I had tried before, but I was trying to “fit in” my workout into my day, my day with 4 small children who ALWAYS need something, my job, my other commitments…we all have our lists, right? So I adopted my friend Susan’s philoshophy: 5am workouts.  Ouch!  But it was truly the only time I could get it done with nothing interferring.  Lifestyle change: my nights were cut short. Usually after putting the kids to bed and making lunches, Kurt and I would watch a tv show or 2, just hang out. Well, that time has been cut so I can get to bed earlier.  At first, it was an adjustment, but after a week or so, it was just part of my day.

One thing I learned, I LOVE getting up early in the AM and working out, really. I felt so energized all day. I had a certain confidence that came from feeling like I had already accomplished something for the day. I had something for just me, and I didn’t feel as stressed trying to fit it in, feeling like a failure at the end of the day when it didn’t happen.

My results: well, in Insanity (And by the way, the name suits it. Crazy, intense workout, but AWESOME), you do a Fit Test in the beginning, a couple through out and then a final one on your last day. Technically tomorrow should have been my last night, but I wanted to finish it up.  I like to rest on Sundays.  I was a pretty active person before, but I was blown away by my progress.  I started with / finished with: Switch kicks 93/122; Power Jacks 39/45; Power Knees 84/93; Power Jumps 28/43; Globe Jumps 7/9; Suicide Jumps 13/19; Push-Up Jacks (MY FAVORITE MOVE) 23/30; Plank Obliques 60/65.

I lost about 9 pounds, several inches on my body, and I can FEEL and SEE my core muscles (the upper—the lower are still hiding a little ). My biggest accomplishment, besides finishing, was running a 5K Mud Run last weekend, and just sailing through it.  When I was done, quite honestly, I didn’t feel tired, and I felt like my morning workout was harder than the mudrun.  That day, I decided I am going to keep working. I am going to run a 12 mile Spartan in December.  After I finished the 8 mile last year, I thought to myself, no way could I do any longer distances. Now I know I can. Hopefully, I will order Insanity:The Asylum soon. I hear that one is even more awesome than just regular ole Insanity.

Some Pics:

Before

After

I know these aren’t the ones you see on the infomercials, they are not mind blowing. But I can tell a difference. I have some just for me that I am not confident enough to share. But like I said, my biggest change is in my core. I feel stronger, more confident, and excited to keep going.

I went to load pictures on the computer the other day and I discovered Kyle had taken LOTS of pictures with my camera.  I had seen him take one or 2, but I didn’t realize all day, he was grabbing the camera on and off and snapping pictures of things….

I grabbed a quick one of him-

The End….

The boy wanted to wear his crown from his Chuck E Cheese birthday party.

The look on Sam’s face is priceless.  She hasn’t even looked at her basket. She saw what Kyle got and knew he was going to love it. She was happy for him before she thought of herself….It doesn’t always happen this way but it sure melts my heart when it does…

This was the first piece of chocolate I ate in 40 days. I gave it up for Lent.  I did miss it, but it made me realize how much I do enjoy it

You woke me up for this?

finding her first egg

And then we ate breakfast, got all dressed up and went to church…

It  is a tradition in Texas to put your child in fields along highways, around Easter time, for pictures in our state flower, Bluebonnets.  We haven’t done this in several years. But on Saturday we had a family picture taken for our church directory and thought, “Hey, while they are dressed, let’s do this!” Here ya go!

First, the sun was in their eyes!

Ashley didn’t want to sit down

The boy was ready to pose today!

And she loves to pose too!

This was born striking a pose!

There is a theme here today with this one….She isn’t having any fun

A silly one ( watch Ashley)

She is really mad about bunny ears

She is not going to take that from anyone!

Poor Samantha

Oh wait, is the princess smiling?

Why, yes, yes, she is!

Samantha insisted on wearing “skinny pants” with boots to Sydney’s soccer game the other morning. It got hot and this is what the outfit became.  Several parents complimented her style…so here it is

Melts my heart

Enjoying a snowcone during Samantha’s soccer game

This little 15 (almost 16) month old little girl is going to grow up….

She is going to go from this…

To This….

And I am not going to know where the time went.

Or from this….

To this….

And this guy, isn’t he still a baby???

Nope, he is a tough little boy now…

I really don’t feel like I have gotten any older, but my kids sure have

Mom, I can do this myself. I don’t want your help!

Hmmm, this isn’t as easy as I thought.

Ok Mom, do it for me.

Classic life lesson!

With his Valentine money from Grandma, Kyle got a new Darth Vadar mask.

Samantha still likes to be a princess

Sydney was a pirate in her school program tonight.

And Ashley thinks she is bigger than she really is….

On a side note about Sydney’s program, she had open house afterward.  Her teacher had her writing journal and poetry collection out for the parents to read.  By far, my favorite piece of work from a kid in school.  We will treasure it forever. There were poems about Daddy and all of his hair (and fun inside) Mommy and my beautiful face, Samantha and her stinky socks, and our very very nice neighbors. She has written in this all year so there were lots of great pieces of work.  Some were really funny, some were sweet, and some were just tough (again on how much she wants a cure for diabetes). We will be keeping these journals forever!

I have not updated in almost a month. Lots going on, but lack of motivation on my part has kept me from updating.

I had a birthday this month. On my birthday, a friend of mine threw her husband a surprise party, which I got to help plan. It was so much fun.  I have such a love for planning parties and surprises are even more fun. There were about 70 people there from all over the country.  And the best part was I got to hang out with 25 or so of my favorite people on my birthday.  And then they sang Happy Birthday to both of us….

Each table had a theme that pertained to the birthday boy.  We chose to sit at the shooting table (surprise, I know)

My next choice would have been the Cardinals table…It was my favorite.

We had a talent show at church and both of the girls performed. Sydney and her little friends did a cheer routine and Samantha did gymnastics and wowed the crowd.  Our little friend Andrea stole the show with her hula hooping skills!

And this girl holding Ashley is about as good as it gets for a teenager. Her mom and dad have done a great job with her. I am so glad she is a role model for my girls!

Sydney cheered every Saturday this month. (and soccer starts this upcoming Saturday)

Samantha is doing a round off flip flop solo on the mat

We have been to birthday parties.

Sydney has been an acolyte at church.

Ashley is the messiest kid we have ever had….seriously!

I am still in a co-op and getting lots of great food!

We have finished up to episode 5 in Star Wars.  We have loved watching it through the eyes of our kids who didn’t know Annikan was going to turn bad.  The kids are all loving it.

Kyle got to go to work with Daddy one day (he was really tired of going to school with me)  He was waiting in the truck with his cowboy boots on and Mr. Fix it shirt waiting that morning. He is one cool kid….

My friends and I celebrated our last night at Matt’s Ranchero.  We have eaten at this place countless times.  They are closing this location.  There was something about the atmosphere there that won’t be able to be replaced…

And I took the girls ice skating yesterday.  Sydney has been and loved it.  So, we invited some friends and let Samantha try it out.  Samantha threw a fit when it was time to leave.  I thought she was going to hate it because she kinda struggled, but apparently she really loved it and didn’t want to go.